Brush shredding and cutting machine



Nov. s, 1927. 1,648,341

W. E. GOBLE.

BRUSH SHREDDING AND UTTNG MACHINE Filed June 24. 1926 All Patented Nov.' 8, 1927.

UNrmD. STATES PATENT OFFICE.;-

WILLIAM :EQ Gonna, or onosr, cALn'onNm. l

BRUSH SHREDDING 'AND CUTTING MACHINE. I

Application led .Tune 274, 1926. Serial lim-118,220.

rows of trees of an orchard to gather up and force discarded brush and prunings between shredding and macerating knives to break the same up into iineparticles and to allow the shredded residue to drop back onto the ground in a condition in which it may be readily mixed with the soil as a fertilizer. A further 'object of the invention is to provide a brush shredding andcuttin'g machine-that will be superior in point of simplicity, inexpensiveness of construction, positiveness of operation, and facility and convenience in use and general eflicienc'y. In this specification and the annexed drawings, the invention is illustrated in the form considered to be the. best, but it is tov be understood that the invention is not limited tosuch form,'because itmay be embodied in other forms, and it is' also to be understood thatin and by the claims following the'description, it is desiredto cover the invention in whatsoever form it may be embodied.

In the accompanyingi'one sheet lof drawigxl represents the side elevation of a machine constructed in 4accordance with ,myA

invention, partly broken away to show the interior construction thereof.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a fragmentary portion of the brush cutting knives.

, Fig. 4 is a view taken through Fig. 1 on the line 4 4.

Fig. 5 isi a section taken through Fig. 1

` on the line 5-5. It is a customary practice in caring for fruittrees to trim or prune olf superfluous away and burned. The brush and prunings, when cut from the tree. are usually in a green 'and tender t condition, making it possible to easily macerate and shred the brush material into fine particles so that it brush, limbs and shoots and to throw thev A' cut material between the rows lof fruit trees where it may be easily picked up, carted may be spread, in a shredded condition, over the soil with'which it may be mixed to act as a fertilizer.

In detail, the construction illustrated in the drawings comprises a frame 1, of a vehicle, having a pair of traction wheels 2 and 3 journaled on the opposite lends of a.

shaft 4, that is mounted 'on the frame 1. The vehicle 1 may be either of the trailer type or it may be an automotive vehicl'e capable of moving under its own power.

The rear end of the frame 1 is provided with a shaft 5 which has its opposite ends journaled thereon. The shaft 5 extends laterally across the frame 1 and has a plurality of wheels or drums 6 arranged at regularly spaced intervals thereon. All of the wheels 6 have their peripheries connected together by a plurality of transverse bars 7 arranged in spaced circumferential relation therearound. Each bar 7 is securely boltedl to each one of the wheels 6, and all the bars 7 are arranged at "a right angle to the path of revolution of each of the wheels 6.. -The periphery of each wheel 6 is substantially triangular in cross section, so that the apex thereof faces out. The wheels 6 when joined together by the bars 7 form a cylindrical or drum like member. An end of the shaft 5, on which the wheels 6 are mounted, extends out through the frame 1 and has a bevelled gear 8 secured thereon. A driving pinion 9 meshes with the gear 8, said pinion 9 being sis secured fon.- a shaft 10 thatis journale in bearings 11 and 12 on the frame 1. The op-- posite end of the shaft 10 is provided with 4a bevelled pinion 13 thereon -that -meshes with a bevelled gear 14that is fixed on the drive sha-ft 15 of an engine 16 thatis mounted on the frame 1. The engine 16 is provided with a clutch (not shown) enclosed in a housing 17 thereon, by means of which theengine power may be connected and disconbevelled gears to drive the drum.

Each of the transverse bars 7 has afcutting knife 30 placed vadjacent the forward Aedge thereof and extended transversely has a plurality of upstanding, triangularly Vnected to the driving shaft 15 and related edge slightly bevelled.

The entire upper. half of thev connected wheels 6 is enclosed by a curved housing 19. Around the rear of the connected wheels 6 `I have arranged a, curved plate 2O that is secured at its opposite ends to the opposite sides of theframe 1. The curve of the plate 20 is not concentric to the circumference ofthe wheels 6. The'upper edge ofthe plate 20 is relatively close to the periphery of the wheels 6 while the lower edge of said plate is flared outwardly and away from the periphery of the wheels 6. The lower edge of thev plate 20 is ared away from the wheels 6 to form a relatively large opening into which the brush and limbs are passed to be shredded. Adjacent the lower edge of and 'on the inside face of the plate 20, I have ar. ranged a transverse row of; triangularly shaped cutting blades 21, constructed similarly to the cutting members 18 on each of the transverse bars 7. A row of cutting blades 22 are arranged on the inside face of thel curved plate 20 in vspaced parallel relation to the lower row of blades 21. VA third `row of cutting blades 23 are arranged on the inside face .of the plate 20 in spaced parallel relation to botli the'rst `and second mentioned rows lof cutting blades. Along the upper edge of the plate 20 and on the inside face thereof, I have provided thefourth row of cutting blades 24,v each of vwhich are wider than the cutting-members lin either of thel three rows heretofore mentioned and each of Vthe cutting blades 24 are spaced closer together than the cutting members in the other rows. VThe individual 'cutting members'21, 22, 23-and 24 in each of the rows are spaced apart a suicient distance to permit. the cutting blades 18 on the wheels to'be.

. an edge of the housing 19, through which the brush that' -arefshredded are adapted to be ejected. `The gap 25 is en- .closed by a covering 26.which tends to deiect the shredded material'over'the soil in the rear ofthe plate 20. A nV edge of the housing 26 extends within theinside face of the cover 19 and is serrated at 31, to per-V mit the cutting blades 18 on the bars' 7 to pass therethrough, but to clean or wipe olf any of the shredded or macerated brush material that may have adhered to said cutting blades.

Along the' underside ofthe plate 20, I have pivotallyarranged a pluralityof brush gathering teeth The free ends'v of the teeth 27 are adapted t0 extend in the direction of movement of a vehicle and to lightly rest upon the soil upon which the vehicle moves. The rear end of the gathering teeth is provided with a lever 28 thereon, which is secured to the vehicle 1 and by means of which the position of the gathering teeth relative to the soil may be adjusted.

In the practice of operating my invention, the drum with the cutting blades 18 thereon is rotated at a speed ranging from 600 to 2000 revolutions per minute. As the vehicle is moved, the brush material is gathered up in the teeth 27 and guided into the outwardly flared lower edge of the plate 20. The revolving drum with the blades 18 thereon, forces the brush material up into the space between the periphery of the wheels 6' and the inside face of the plate 20. The cutting blades 18 are so arranged on the periphery of the wheel bars 7, and on the inside face of th plate 20 that vno clear space remains through which the brush material can escape. The rotary speed of the cutting blades 18 is sufiicient to force the brush material through and pastthe parallel rows of offset cutting members, (starting'with the first row and passing successively through the second, third and fourth rows of stationary cut ting blades,) until said brush material is thoroughly shredded and macerated and discharged out the Vport 25.- The brush ma-v terial is shredded, in part, before it reaches the port20, and in order to throw out the initially shredded material, I have perforated the plate 20 between each of the rows of stationary butting blades. The perforations in the plate 20 are large enough lto permit the discharge of shredded brush material of a selected size, but not large enough to permit the discharge of all brush material. In my experiments I have determined that suliicient power should be used to rotate the wheels 6 with the cutting blades 18 thereon, in order that all brush` material, irrespective of its size and thickness, will be passed through the machine and thoroughly shredded without danger VYof causingthe cutting blades to stop or to cause any injury or damage to the machine. \,The brush material is decidedly iibrous and stringy in its nature andfor that reason easily shreds-and breaks up .into a.

finely comminuted mass after it has passed through the shredding teeth of vmy vapparatus.

Having, thus described thisl invention, what Ifnow-Aclaim and desire toH secure by yLetters Patent is:

1. In a brush shredding machine, a. 'rotary' drum; radiall extended blades arranged circumferenti y onf. said drum; a plate on the machine arranged in eccentric spaced relation to thecircumference of the drum, one

edgeof said plate being arranged closer to the drumthan the. opposite edge of said plate; pluralV rows of off-set blades arranged `the s ace between the drum and plate.

2. n a brush shredding machine, a frame; a d rum rotatabl 'mounted on said frame havmg cutting b ades arranged around the t periphery thereof; power means to rotate lfl said drum; a plate on the frame related to a portion of the periphery of the drum and arranged in spaced relation thereto, one edge of said plate being arranged closer to the drum than the opposite edge of said plate;

rows of independent cutting blades'arranged in off-set relation on said plate to have the cutting blades on the drum pass therebetween; and means to feed brush to be shred ded into the space between the drum and plate.

3. In a brush shredding machine, a rotary drum; radially extended blades arranged circumferentia ly onsaid drum; a plate on the machine arranged in eccentric spaced relation to the circumference of the drum, one edge of said plate being arranged closer to the drum than the o posite edge of said plate; plural rows of'o -set blades arranged on sald plate facing the blades on the drum; means to feed brush to be shredded into the space between the drum and plate; and means to strip the shredded brush from the blades on the drum.

4. In a. brush shredding machine, a frame; a drum rotatably mounted on said frame having cutting blades arranged around the periphery thereof; power means to rotate said drum; a plate on the frame related to a portion of the periphery of the drum and arranged in spaced relation thereto, one edge of said plate being arranged closer to .the drum than the opposite edge of said plate;

rows of independent cutting blades arranged in offset relation von plate to have the cutting blades on the drum pass therebetween;

`means to feed bru'sh to be shredded into the space between the drum and plate; and means to strip the shredded brush from the blades on the drum.l

l5. In a brush shredding machine, a horizontally disposed concave casing having an intake along the bottom thereof and a discharge along thel upper side thereof;` plural rows of blades arranged in olf-set relation on the interior of the casing between the intake and discharge; 'a drum rotatably mounted in eccentric relation to the concave casing; radially extended blades arranged on the periphery of the drum to pass between the blades on the casing; means on the machine to rotate the drum' and means on the casino' to feed brush to be shredded into the inta e.

6. In 'a brush shredding machine, a horizontally disposed concave casing having an intake along the bottom thereof and a dlscharge along the upper sidethereof; lural rows of blades arranged in off-set re ation -on the interior of the casing between the intake 'and discharge; a drum rotatably mounted in eccentric relation to the concave casing; radially extended blades arranged on the perpherl of the drum to pass between the blades on t e casing; means on the machine to rotate the drum; means yon the casing to' feed brush to be shredded into the intake' and means to strip shredded brush from the' blades on the drum.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at San Francisco, California, this 8 day of May, 1926.

WILLIAM E. GOBLE. 

